


Searching For Treasures

by KalynaAnne



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Post canon, ro2sid 2020, ro2sid exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KalynaAnne/pseuds/KalynaAnne
Summary: The Republic of Two Systems is on its way to being established. Breq keeps a rotating contingent of soldiers on Station and has decided that when they are not on duty, they should alsolooklike they aren't on duty. She has sent them out to work on this. They only sort of follow their instructions
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36
Collections: Republic of Two Systems Independence Day Exchange 2020





	Searching For Treasures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EternalLibrary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalLibrary/gifts).



Kalr Eight flipped thoughtfully through the rack of clothes: loose tunics and trousers in the bright bold colors favored by the Ychana, more traditionally Radchaai shirts and jackets and trousers, the occasional bright Xhai holiday suit, all jumbled together. Some of the clothing was grouped as outfits, some hung as individual pieces. All of it was second hand, but many pieces were high quality and much cheaper than she would find them at a tailor. It had been so long since she wore anything other than her uniform that she was no longer sure what style she would be comfortable wearing. She pulled a deep burgundy suit from the rack and held it out, trying to decide whether it was worth trying on. Her attention was soon drawn by her decade-mates’ snickering.

Three held up an aqua jacket with intricate violet embroidery. “What do you think? Would Five want to match her precious Bractware?”

Six smirked. “I can’t decide if she would love it or hate it.”

Eight grinned back at them. “Knowing her she would probably have an argument for why one should always endeavor to make sure her clothing isn’t too similar to the decor or the dishes. It wouldn’t be _proper_.”

Three stuck out her tongue, “Spoilsport.” She returned the jacket to the rack. “If we’re staying in the undergarden, should we be looking at the Ychana style clothes?” 

Eight wrinkled her nose. “You certainly can if you want. I personally don’t feel dressed if I’m not wearing a jacket... hmmm…” She pulled a cream shirt from the rack and held it up with the burgundy suit. “What do you think?” 

Three eyed it critically for a moment and then nodded. “It looks well made and in good condition. Go try it on!” She held up a bright patterned tunic and a pair of flowing trousers. “I think I’m going to see what these are like on...” 

A few minutes later they both stepped out from the changing rooms and, on seeing Three, Eight burst out laughing. 

“Hey! I’ll have you know these clothes are actually extremely comfortable.” Three grinned. “Though I might see if I can find an option that is slightly less bright - I feel like I’m wearing a tropical garden!”

Eight got her giggles back under control. “This suit is a little big but I think we could alter it to make it fit properly.” She turned slowly so Three could see how it was fitting. 

“Yeah, we should be able to take in the jacket a bit and re-hem the pants. Do you like it?”

Eight shrugged. “Maybe? It feels weird to wear anything other than our uniform, but I do like the color.” 

Three nodded. “That makes sense. We should find you a nice pair of cream gloves to go with it, but not here. Second hand gloves… “ She shuddered. 

“Yeah…” Eight made a face. “We’ll definitely need to stop by a proper glove shop…” She took a deep breath. “Ok, let’s change back and then see if we can find you something less eye searing.” 

Back at the racks of clothes, Eight paused and smirked, “Well, would you look at this?” She pulled out a lilac jacket. “I do believe this would match our baby lieutenant’s eyes _perfectly_.”

Three’s eyes widened as she took it in. “I think you’re right. Do you think she would wear it?” 

Eight laughed. “I’m not sure if she would or not, but I can guarantee that one of the Bos would.”

Three grinned. “Oh, they _absolutely_ would. They’ll fight over who gets to wear it. We have to get it.” 

Eight gestured agreement as she draped it over her arm with the suit she had picked out for herself and then pointed to a tunic in various shades of blue. “What about that one?” 

“That looks promising.” Three pulled it and a white pair of loose trousers from the rack. I’ll go try these on.” 

Eight started to turn back to the clothes, but was quickly distracted by a shout from across the thrift shop.

“Eight, you’re not going to believe what I just found!” Six had apparently gotten tired of looking at clothes and wandered over to the kitchen section. 

Eight looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. “Obviously not the outfit we came here to find.”

Six sighed and grumbled. “I _like_ just wearing my uniform and not having to think about clothes… Anyway, if Fleet Captain doesn’t want us dressed as soldiers while we’re off duty, by the same logic, we can’t very well use the military issued tea set. We’re supposed to be ‘doing our best to look civilian’, so looking at tea bowls is just as useful as looking at clothes. Besides, you _know_ Five is going to bring her personal bowl when we have tea and she’ll quietly lord it over us if we are using the standard issue.” 

Eight rolled her eyes but grudgingly agreed, “Yeah, ok, you have a point, though I don’t know where Sir thinks we’re going to store everything…” 

As Eight trailed off, _Mercy of Kalr_ spoke up quietly to both of them. “There’s plenty of space in your quarters in the undergarden, and Fleet Captain has Amaat converting one of my cargo holds into a bank of personal lockers. You’ll have somewhere to store it on board if you want your own tea bowl. Fleet Captain would approve.”

Eight shook her head, still not quite sure what to make of her Captain who is an ancillary and yet goes to so much effort to encourage her soldiers to be individuals, but gestured affirmation and thanks to Ship. She headed over to Six. “Let’s see what you’ve found then.” 

“I’ve found several good things. First we have this.” She pointed out a set of four light green bowls and matching flask decorated with delicate pink and white flowers. “If we find friends on Station who aren’t part of the crew, which Sir is encouraging, we’ll want to have a matched set of bowls to host tea. You know Five would never let us use any of the sets she picked out for Ship.”

Eight nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She picked one of the bowls up and turned it in her hand. “I don’t know much about dishes, but they seem nice.”

“Heh, Five could probably tell us more about them and all about why they are common and not actually interesting, but she isn’t here, and I think they’re pretty.” Six then reached for a rich black bowl with small chips of something sparkly embedded sporadically in the glaze. “This is the bowl I want as my personal bowl. My grandmother had a similar one and I always admired how much it looked like star studded space.”

Eight smiled. “It’s lovely, but I’m pretty sure neither of those justify your excitement when you called me over?”

“Ah yes. This is the best one.” Six gave a mischievous smirk and held up her prize. At first glance it was a lovely white porcelain tea bowl. Obviously not approaching the quality of the set Five treasures so deeply, but perfectly respectable. Eight gave her a flat look. Six just grinned broadly and handed her the bowl.

“Oh Amaat’s grace...” Only long practice at acting as an ancillary allowed Eight to keep a straight face as she discovered the chick painted in the bottom of the bowl that she now recognized was clearly meant to be egg shaped. 

Six giggled. “Peep, peep, peep, peep! Just imagine what would happen if we served _Sphene_ tea in this bowl.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Republic of Two Systems Independence Day!
> 
> Many thanks to GammaRad and FlipSpring for their very helpful beta reading. Comments and feedback are always welcome :-)


End file.
